LOUISVILLE -- Dozens of residents came out to City Hall on Thursday night to decry a proposed mixed-use development that would put 195 high-end apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail on a 5-acre site where a Safeway store remains empty nearly two years after closing its doors.

Complaints at the Louisville Planning Commission hearing largely centered on the excessive density, additional traffic and degradation of Louisville's small-town character that opponents feel the project would bring.

The proposal, which would place three residential buildings and two commercial buildings at the corner of South Boulder Road and Centennial Drive, represents the city's first big redevelopment project outside of the downtown area.

"I believe we have enough high-density units along this stretch of South Boulder Road," said 35-year-resident Bill Staton. "Adding more high-density units to the area will only bring values down and change the character of the area."

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Staton recited a long list of multi-family developments already in close proximity to the proposed project, including more than 300 units coming online as part of Steel Ranch.

Diane Woodward, who lives in a condo behind the Safeway, said the new community isn't in keeping with the look and feel of the surrounding neighborhoods. The main building Loftus is proposing could exceed a height of 50 feet, while others would be three stories tall.

"When I see the proposal, I feel like I am in Denver and Boulder," she said. "I sense that I'm losing something here."

So many people attended the hearing Thursday that every chair in the council chambers was filled and the lobby outside was packed. The commission will hold another hearing on the proposal later this month.

The meeting started with presentations from Loftus' supporters and city planning staff members. Howard Garelick, director of real estate for Safeway, said the site is no longer conducive to big-box retail operations. The Safeway originally opened in 1980.

"This location is no longer a viable retail location," he said.

Garelick said the shuttered Safeway saw sales plunge 57 percent from 1998 until its closure in 2010. He attributed the poor performance to the site's limited access and to intense competition from other grocers.

Other presenters said a number of grocers, including organic retailers like Sunflower Farmers Market and Whole Foods, had been approached and declined to open up there. Louisville Planning Director Troy Russ said market data shows that the city doesn't have enough of a population to support a third grocery store in town.

Tim Brazel, owner of the Village Square Shopping Center, said his tenants have suffered since the closure of the Safeway, which anchored the shopping center.

"Right now, we have an unbelievable stigma on this property," Brazel said. "My tenants right now are holding out hope that this development will be approved. Let's not let this opportunity pass us by."

But James Keener, a project opponent who lives north of the Safeway site, said he was wary of the fact that Loftus' project is made up of rental units and not condominiums. He said the target tenants -- young, single upwardly mobile professionals -- aren't necessarily the kind of folks to put down roots in the community.

"The people they're trying to attract have no investment in this community whatsoever," he said.

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